The Overriding Issue: Are Blended Learning Advocates the Primary Obstacle to Change?

Posted on August 25, 2010 by JimS

By Steve Eskow
Editor, Hybrid vs. Virtual Issues

[Note: Earlier today (25 Aug. 2010), Steve Eskow posted the comment below in the ongoing discussion on Harry Keller‘s Technological Literacy: The Key to Education Reform,. -js]

Jim, this summary statement of yours cuts to the heart of the matter:

…“cramming” the latest disruptive technology (e.g., free, user friendly, yet powerful non-enterprise social networking media) into traditional classroom structures won’t work.

If you are right, some of our writers here who are searching for ways to “blend” learning, to bring the new technologies into the classroom, or somehow attach them to a classroom-organized curriculum and pedagogy, are part of the resistance-to-change movement, although they would bristle at this idea.

Although we are seemingly all apostles of the new ICT, we are really of at least two camps, the Blenders, who think the new technologies and the old classroom can coexist, and the Leavers, who think the new technologies will compound our educational problems until we face up to this clash of technologies issue.

Is there some way we can focus attention on this issue as the overriding one?

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Education Reform: Incremental or Disruptive?

Posted on August 23, 2010 by JimS

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

At my college, two of the gutsiest innovations I’ve ever seen involved administrators. These happened a few years ago, but they still resonate with me. In the first case, he decided to abandon the daily hardcopy announcements that filled our wooden mailboxes. Most of them went directly from our boxes to the trashcan anyway so this was a physical relief for many. From the appointed day, the announcements would be distributed via email.

There was an uproar. “What about those of us who don’t use our email accounts?” or “What about those of us who don’t like to do our reading on computer screens?” and my favorite: “What about those of us who archive them for future reference?” Indeed, as new faculty, we were all issued a two-hole punch and a clipboard with two long metal forks (which looked like huge paper clips standing on end, with one end embedded in the board) that held the announcements via the punched holes. Most of us didn’t know what to do with these, and they quickly gathered dust in out of the way nooks. Continue reading →

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Educational Engineers: The Missing Link in Innovation

Posted on August 22, 2010 by JimS

By William H. Zaggle

It appears to me that educational engineering is still the missing element in the realization of many key innovations in education. The compulsion of educators to observe ritual is not yet balanced by those trained to employ a process for innovation and convert research into practical applications. Having taught basic engineering creativity and ingenuity as well as innovation skills early in my career at Texas A&M University, I quickly put the two together, leading to the creation of an educational software company in 1986 dedicated to building tools for teachers.

What I have learned after 23 years of experience is that trained educational engineers would have a welcomed place in our global quest for real innovation and real transformational opportunities. Continue reading →

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Technological Literacy: The Key to Education Reform

Posted on August 22, 2010 by JimS

By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education

What is technological literacy? Why should you even care?

It seems that technological literacy is one of the latest buzz phrases in education, but how many have bothered to provide a clear definition? From what I’ve seen, many people simply choose their own definitions based on their personal ideas of what the words “technology” and “literacy” mean.

First off, technology has a meaning that varies with time and place. At one time, slate blackboards and chalk were the latest technology in classrooms. They transformed teaching. Today, you could argue that LCD projectors are part of classroom technology along with a host of other gadgets. Outside of the classroom, the range of technology grows to unmanageable proportions and even includes clothes washers.

Let’s take technology, for this discussion, to mean technology in the classroom and require that it have an important computer component. Interactive white boards and iPads will fall into this range as will all sorts of computer software. Continue reading →

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Ning’s New Deadline for Pay-Only: Aug. 30

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Claude Almansi

Claude AlmansiBy Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues

Ning  announced repeatedly that it would delete free networks whose creators had not paid for one of its new pricing plans by midnight Aug. 20. On Aug. 21, however, Ning extended this deadline to August 30. Here’s the announcement of this extension on its Help page:

Deadline for Selecting a Ning Plan Extended to August 30, 2010

A number of Network Creators, particularly those based outside the United States, have requested more time to arrange for payment and make the right decision on a plan for their network. As a result, we have extended the deadline for selecting one of the three new plans (Ning Mini, Plus and Pro) to August 30, 2010. Beginning on this date, we will block access to any free Ning Network that isn’t subscribed to one of the three plans.

Please let us know if we can help, or if you have questions or comments. Thank you!

Thus, if you are the creator of a free Ning network, you can still:

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Change Has Already Arrived but We Don’t Know It, Yet

Posted on August 20, 2010 by JimS

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

The problem with innovation is that we don’t see it unless it suddenly stops or disappears. You might say that its importance in our lives is indirectly proportional to its visibility. The more important it is, the less visible it is. It simply becomes a part of our lives, like the air we breathe and the earth we walk on, and we take it for granted. But remove it, and we’re suddenly painfully aware of our dependence on it.

A few examples will do: electricity, indoor plumbing, freeways, cars, the toilet, cable TV, broadband, wi-fi, passenger and cargo jets, container ships, oil tankers, cell phones, GPS, the internet, computers, super markets, malls, Starbucks, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

These are truly dramatic innovations, and they changed the world and our lives, but they pale in comparison to the greatest, the one that trumps them all by a margin so wide that it, too, is invisible — our triumph over time and space. It’s crept so softly and slowly into our lives that we didn’t notice it. It just happened, like the rising tide or the turning from spring to summer. Continue reading →

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Arne and Michelle vs. Larry: The Statistical Battle

Posted on August 20, 2010 by JimS

By Robert Plants
Editor, Schools for the 21st Century

I opened my newspaper this morning to an article titled “ACT Scores Dropping but More Students Are Prepared for College.” I asked myself how is this possible when other reports say that schools and teachers are not preparing students for future learning.

But I’m getting off my topic, which is the research-based finding that “more than 90% of the variation in student gain scores is due to the variation in student-level factors that are not under the control of the teacher.”

Another interesting note from those who have evaluated value-added methods and particularly the one used in LA is that there is opportunity for as much as 26% error in teacher ratings. If you want to put it another way, 26% is a large labeling error to make regarding someone’s chosen vocation. It sort of opens one to litigation in my mind.

Continue reading →

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Is Obama’s Plan for Ed Reform About to Crash?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by JimS

Yesterday, Robert Plants, one of our editors, shared Anthony Cody’s “This Is How a Tipping Point Feels” (Teacher Magazine, 8.15.10) with all ETCJ writers and editors. Cody bemoans the Obama administration’s heavy-handed approach to education reform. He sees mounting opposition to top-down decision-making and exclusive reliance on “tough standards and high-stakes tests” and wonders if the pendulum is about ready to swing the other way. He asks, “What do you think? Are we approaching a tipping point? How can we make it so?” Two of our editors, Harry Keller in “Time to Push the Ed Reform Pendulum Sideways” and Bonnie Bracey Sutton in “The Teacher’s Voice Is Missing,” have responded. To see Bonnie’s article, click on “Read more” at the bottom of this article. -js


Time to Push the Ed Reform Pendulum Sideways

By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education

Anthony Cody writes in Education Week about education reaching a tipping point. He makes an analogy with a pendulum. The “tipping point” for a pendulum is where it changes direction, the point of maximum acceleration and minimum velocity. He points out that we’ve been moving steadily away from the progressive social approach of the ’70s toward test-driven accountability and “pre-digested curriculum.”

Putting aside the fact that all schools and classrooms have not joined equally in either movement, there’s a real problem with the pendulum analogy. It assumes a linear movement, back and forth repeatedly. If you look carefully, you’ll see that we’ve had previous swings with various names such as “Back to Basics” and “Relevancy.” In my own brief time on the planet, I’ve seen a couple of these swings. You don’t have to read very much to discover that these ideas have been around for a while. Continue reading →

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Is ‘Technology Expert’ an Oxymoron?

Posted on August 13, 2010 by JimS

By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education

[Note: The following article was first published by Harry Keller as a comment on John Adsit‘s “Administrators Don’t Have Time to Keep Up with Ed Tech” on 13 August 2010. -js]

John makes several excellent points. The one that resonates with me focuses on technologists, whatever they are. Because I began working with computers when they used vacuum tubes and have been constantly doing so since, I used to be really up on computer technology. But the field has expanded horizontally to the point where no one can know everything anymore. An example: I just discovered that the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader has two screens, one with e-ink and one with color LCD.

Because we have no standards or certificates for technologists, anyone could be one. One school I worked with had an ex-firefighter as one. He took a Cisco course (really an indoctrination) and so was an “expert technologist.” Continue reading →

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In Learning Design, Pedagogy First, Medium Second

Posted on August 13, 2010 by JimS

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

It’s common to hear the argument “We need to use social media in learning because that what the kids are doing.” This statement has merit, but there’s a lot that’s packed into it, and this can sometimes cause confusion.

The sentiment is correct in that there is a desire to engage with school age students on their terms. However, often this gets wrapped up in intentions for more learner centred and collaborative pedagogical stances. That’s fine (if that’s what you want), but it’s important to make a distinction between the medium and the pedagogy. However, the affordance of social media clearly leans towards collaborative uses. Continue reading →

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Administrators Don’t Have Time to Keep Up with Ed Tech

Posted on August 13, 2010 by JimS

adsit80By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction

[Note: This article was first posted as a comment by John Adsit on “The Bright New Face of Educational Leadership – Eric Sheninger” on 10 August 2010. -js]

I think there is a reason that not many administrators become leaders in the use of technology in education – they don’t have time to keep up with the dizzying changes that are taking place in that area.

When I was first involved with technology while in the instructional services division of my school district, I was often jokingly referred to as “our computer geek.” What a laugh! I was an instructional theory specialist who was forced down a road to the use of technology through a series of accidents in my assignments. I saw the potential of online education and tried to be a leader in having that potential realized, but I was no technology geek, and I was embarrassed by my lack of knowledge when put in the presence of those who really knew how this stuff worked. Continue reading →

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Who’s on First for the Education Reform Pennant?

Posted on August 11, 2010 by JimS

Bonnie BraceyBy Bonnie Bracey Sutton
Editor, Policy Issues

As I read about solutions for addressing our nation’s educational problems, I am prompted to ask, Who’s on first in the race toward the best answer?

This question echoes Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine. It is worth listening to if you don’t remember it or haven’t heard it.

My dad was a teacher. He used to say that if education were an airplane, it would never get off the ground because everyone aboard would think they knew enough to fly it. His point was that the arguments in the cockpit would ensure that the plane would never leave the runway.

I’m not trying to make fun of anyone, and I’m not picking on the President. But I am talking about the media and about us, educators. The bottom line is that discussions about education aren’t funny, especially when you think about all the nuances of the problems that make them extremely difficult to solve. Continue reading →

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The Need for Openness in Professional Publications

Posted on August 11, 2010 by JimS

kimura80By Bert Kimura
Editor, Ed Tech in Japan

[Note: On Aug. 7, 2010, in an ETCJ listerv discussion, and two days later, in a personal email, Bert commented on the subject of requests for permission to republish ETCJ articles. The following article combines both those sources. -js]

With regard to the republishing question, I don’t see any problem with doing so as long as the “republisher” understands ETCJ‘s chosen Creative Commons* policy.

I see this discussion as an opportunity to update the information in ETCJ’s policy statement since CC licenses have been updated. Provide a link to the “License Deed”** rather than the “Legal Code” since it is more understandable and less intimidating. (Click here to go to the CC site.)

I strongly feel that information should be freely accessible and reusable, and in the bigger picture, will be of greater value to society and, in particular, to educators globally. I also feel that attribution is necessary and credit needs to be given to the author or creator, for better or for worse. CC is an excellent vehicle for doing this. Continue reading →

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Little Things Add Up to Big Things

Posted on August 7, 2010 by JimS

Green computing is generally thought of as the “study and practice of efficient and eco-friendly computing resources.” Helping the environment by decreasing energy use and at the same time reducing associated costs seems a no-brainer. Want to learn about green computing and what you can do on a personal level to promote it? Would you like customized information about green computing delivered free to your desktop? Two delivery vehicles for the Internet information highway are Google Alerts and Twilert Twitter tweets (say that fast three times). Use them to get daily e-mail messages with gleanings from the Internet. Continue reading →

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Innovation Requires Subject Area Expertise

Posted on August 7, 2010 by JimS

adsit80By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction

[Note: This article was first published by John Adsit as a comment to “‘Has the Internet obsoleted formal schools?’” on 5 August 2010. -js]

“This alone tells us that teacher as sole source of info is no longer viable.” –Jim

When I participated in the creation of the teaching standards of performance for our school district, I ran into some interesting research regarding the common teaching styles of teachers with different levels of academic preparation. The results were probably counterintuitive to most people. Teachers with strong academic preparation in their subject areas were most likely to focus their instruction on thinking skills and project-based learning. Teachers with the weakest academic preparation tended to focus instruction on rote fact retention, with themselves as the primary sources of information.

The research did not not attempt to explain why that was true. Because it was a phenomenon I had observed myself over the years, I had a theory of my own. I believed there were two factors at work. Continue reading →

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The Bright New Face of Educational Leadership – Eric Sheninger

Posted on August 7, 2010 by JimS

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

Eric Sheninger is the principal of New Milford High School (New Jersey). But he’s more than that. Much, much more. He’s a shining example of the new face of leadership. In “Building Momentum” (A Principal’s Reflections, 8.6.10), he shares his thoughts on what it means to be an educational leader in the 21st century.

The one factor that differentiates Sheninger from the vast majority of his colleagues is that he has personally stepped into the virtual world to envision the future of education. He says, “I stress the fact that this phenomenon [social media] is not going away and is a major component in the lives of today’s society.” This perspective from rather than into social networks is unique, and the insights that it provides challenge mainstream thought. Continue reading →

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USDA Broadband Funds for Rural America – Implications?

Posted on August 6, 2010 by JimS

Bonnie BraceyBy Bonnie Bracey Sutton
Editor, Policy Issues

A couple days ago, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the USDA’s second round of funding to extend broadband access to America’s underserved rural and distant areas.

I’d like to hear what ETCJ readers, writers, and editors think of this initiative. What are the implications? Is it enough to make a difference in these areas? How will this affect teaching, learning, and the economy now that the residents will be able to raise their “electronic” hand? Will schools benefit? Who benefits most? To post a comment, click on the title of this article and scroll down to the composing window.

Here’s the opening of The White House press release:

WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the funding of 126 new Recovery Act broadband infrastructure projects that will create jobs and provide rural residents in 38 states and Native American tribal areas access to improved service.  Broadband access plays a critical role in expanding economic, health care, educational and public safety services in underserved rural communities. Today’s announcement is part of the second round of USDA broadband funding through the Recovery Act. Read more >>

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IADIS 2010 – The Gateway to the Black Forest Becomes a Window to E-Learning

Posted on August 5, 2010 by JimS

Stefanie PankeBy Stefanie Panke
Editor, Social Software in Education

IADIS, a professional organization that engages in activities fostering the information society, organizes each year a multitude of conferences worldwide in the field of e-learning, information and computational science, human computer interaction, e-health and e-commerce. It was my pleasure this year to attend IADIS e-learning 2010, held from July 26-29 in Freiburg, Germany. In one of the session breaks, I had the opportunity to talk to the program chairs Prof. Maggie McPherson from the University of Leeds and Prof. José Miguel Baptista Nunes from the University of Sheffield. Both Miguel and Maggie have been involved with IADIS for many years and have been organizing the e-learning conference since 2007. The interview material complements my own eclectic view based on four conference days, 25 sessions, and approximately 100 talks.

Continue reading →

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‘Has the Internet obsoleted formal schools?’

Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

Earlier this evening, I googled “post-school era” and all the hits were related to after high school topics. All except one. I clicked on it and found myself at Yahoo! Answers, a website where anyone can post a question and anyone can post an answer.

Based on the vague dating, the question was posted “2 months ago” by someone calling her-/himself “tell the truth on Net”:

Post-School era: Are formal scholling still needed in Internet-age. Free 24/7/365

Note: users can use Free internet at school / library / home 24/7/365 and pay almost nothing.

How can K-12 schools or local communuity college have more information used by a 1-billion people 24/7/365.

Has the Internet obsoleted formal schools?

Continue reading →

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Sound Bites Aren’t the Answer for Reform

Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS

By Franklin Schargel

[Note: This article was first posted as a comment to Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s “What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?” by Franklin Schargel on 3 August 2010.-js]

There isn’t any argument that education in America needs to be improved. Politicians on all sides of the spectrum agree. The discussion is not about whether it should happen but how it should happen. Is the Race for the Top the way to go? I do not think so. It DEMANDS that states raise the cap on how many charter schools they have. There are excellent charter schools and there are terrible charter schools. Just as there are terrible public schools and excellent public schools.

Continue reading →

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Real Change with 21st Century Learning Communities

Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS

By Robert Plants
Editor, Schools for the 21st Century

[Note: This article was first posted as a comment on Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s “What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?” by Robert Plants on 3 August 2010. -js]

This may sound a bit scattered so forgive me in advance. When Obama became President, I was excited to see who he would name to his cabinet post on education. When he named Arne Duncan, I almost immediately closed the book on my hopes for real educational change. I lived in Chicago during the time Obama was a rising star, and I can tell you that the city’s public schools were not that spiffy. I believe it was during this time that a scandal arose over the discovery of hundreds of computers that were stored but never ended up in schools. These were bought using the old E-Rate program. So Mr. Duncan to me is no better than any other big city education bureaucrat — a bad choice. Continue reading →

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An Educational Reform Story: The Power of Expectations

Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS

(Note: I wrote a related article in January 2009. -ja)

In a recent article, I said that education reform begins with people changing their fundamental beliefs about student ability. I said that if you believe students do not have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to help them get through school by bringing school down to their level. If you instead believe, as I do, that these students do have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to use instructional approaches that bring them up to high standards of performance. Here is a true story that may illustrate the problem. Continue reading →

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Acquisition or Participation – The Pedagogical Divide

Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

When you think about the various options for using technology in teaching and learning, there is a stark contrast between those that come from the Web 2.0 movement, which are often free and easy to use, and those that come from the commercial software companies, which are often expensive and cumbersome. Overall, you can also draw a pedagogical dividing line between these two areas — acquisition or participation.

Acquisition is all about preserving what we have, transmitting the knowledge in the way we have done in formal education. I’m talking here about web conferencing systems, Learner Management Systems (I mean the core products, not the added-on interactive stuff), lecture capture systems. They are complex, bandwidth heavy, and usually accompanied by a manual or require expensive training and support. Continue reading →

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Education Reform – Fighting the Conspiracy for Mediocrity

Posted on August 2, 2010 by JimS

adsit80By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction

[Note: This article was first posted as a comment on Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s “What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?” by John Adsit on 2 August 2010. -js]

The “Framework” document rightly calls for using proven effective methods of instruction. In recent columns and comments, I have written about this very topic. There have been enough examples of schools that have turned around and made great strides in achievement for us to know what those proven methods are. The mystery is this: Why aren’t those methods used in more than occasional instances?

The reason is that there is a conspiracy toward mediocrity, and using proven methods of excellence shatters that conspiracy, and anyone with the audacity to use these methods faces the wrath of all other members of that conspiracy. Continue reading →

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What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?

Posted on August 1, 2010 by JimS

Bonnie BraceyBy Bonnie Bracey Sutton
Editor, Policy Issues

[Updated 8.2.10 – links added: “A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”; “In the News: More Opposition to Duncan’s Reform Policies: Defending Obama’s Education Agenda”; “Our Communities Left Behind: An Analysis of the Administration’s School Turnaround Policies.” -bbs/js]

The problem that President Obama is having should be addressed. I think he is between a rock and a hard place in his efforts to change the face of education. What do you, our ETCJ readers, writers, and editors, think he should do?

To post your comment, click on the title of this article and scroll down to the comment box. To start the discussion, here are a few documents that you might want to read:

Valerie Strauss, “Obama, Education, Snooki, Civil Rights and Bryan Bass” (The Answer Sheet, Washington Post, 30 July 2010): The president’s “terribly misguided $4.35 billion competitive grant program is, apparently, more important than health care reform, the economic recovery program, improving the student loan program, increasing Pell Grant payouts, and, well, anything else he has accomplished since becoming president.” Continue reading →

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